Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Rapid Characterization Of Dissolved Organic Matter And Precursors To Disinfection By-Products By Fluorescence Technique, Taha Marhaba

Sustainability Seminar Series

Natural organic matter (NOM) in the environment today does not only come from humic sources, but also from non-humic or synthetic sources. The typical total organic carbon (TOC) analysis has been typically used as an aggregate measure of NOM in water. NOM from surface water sources were isolated and fractionated by resin adsorption techniques into hydrophobic acid, hydrophobic neutral, hydrophobic base, hydrophilic acid, hydrophilic neutral and hydrophilic base. The Spectral Fluorescent Signatures (SFS) technique through a database of spectral characteristics specific to each fraction was developed for the identification of the six NOM fractions. Among the main advantages of the …

Turning Disaster Data Into Knowledge: Field Reconnaissance, Damage Assessment, And Lessons Learned From Hurricane Sandy, Harvey, And Michael, Jie Gong

Sustainability Seminar Series

The recent hurricanes in 2012, 2017, and 2018, and efforts of researchers to capture vast quantities of perishable data through support of the National Science Foundation and other agencies, have created enormous databases of hurricane impacts to coastal structures that can be used to extract fundamental knowledge as to why these structures perform as they do during hurricanes. But exploration of these large data sets, untangling the complex factors contributing to various hurricane damages, and forming a holistic understanding of damage mechanisms are challenging tasks, requiring convergent approaches in system modeling, data science, and cyberinfrastructure design. In this presentation, Dr. …

Social And Political Factors Influencing Green Energy Transition, Rachel Schwom

Sustainability Seminar Series

Society’s dependence on fossil fuels is harming humans and the environment and we must transition our energy system to be more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. While the economics driving energy transitions are important, sociologists and political scientists have highlighted that these transitions are social and political processes. This talk will provide examples of research that has highlight the social and political factors that influence how people and institutions interact with the market and our energy systems. Those factors include public opinion and social movement pressure, industry resistance or support, political opportunity structure, and windows of opportunity. Cases will include …

Why Build Multi-Use Greenways? Implications For New Jersey And Beyond, R. Bruce Donald

Sustainability Seminar Series

In this presentation, Bruce Donald will explain comprehensive research that investing in bicycle/pedestrian infrastructure has numerous benefits including public health, reduced transportation costs, increased access to reliable transportation, tourism, improved local economy, reduced user mortality rates, and environmental benefits. Solutions include developing a comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle network, as well as improving access to these facilities by all of New Jersey’s residents and its visitors. Investing in bicycle infrastructure is at the forefront of twenty-first-century economic development.

Quantifying Ocean Acidification In The Geologic Record Using The B/Ca Ratio Of Planktic Foraminifera Shells, Laura Haynes

Sustainability Seminar Series

56 million years ago, the Earth underwent a rapid climate change event called the “Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum” (PETM). Sedimentary records show that a massive amount of carbon was released into the atmosphere, causing ocean acidification, warming, and a widespread extinction of deep-sea organisms. Reconstructing the source and amount of carbon released during the PETM has been a major focus for paleoclimatologists as we seek to understand how the Earth system will respond to modern carbon emissions and warming. To help quantify ocean acidification at the PETM, we are using the boron content (the B/Ca ratio) of the shells of …

Anaerobic Dechlorination Of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-P-Dioxins In Passaic River Sediments, Donna E. Fennell

Sustainability Seminar Series

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) are persistent, bioaccumulative and toxic pollutants found in the environment. The Passaic River in New Jersey is highly contaminated with 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7,8-TeCDD), one of the most toxic of the PCDD/F congeners. Our on-going research at Rutgers is intended to better understand PCDD/F dichlorination by anaerobic organohalide respiring bacteria (OHRB). Results will be presented from various anaerobic enrichment cultures (including from the Passaic River) enriched on alternate organohalides such as trichloroethene and dichlorobenzene to stimulate OHRB. Activity against three PCDD congeners: 1,2,3,4-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, a well-studied model PCDD congener; 2,3,7,8-TeCDD; and 2,7-dichlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, a potential metabolite of 2,3,7,8- TeCDD, …

The Paradox Of Urban Greening: Does It Harm The Very People Who Need It The Most?, Juliana Maantay

Sustainability Seminar Series

Urban greening and sustainability approaches are well accepted methods for improving the urban environment and combating the climate crisis. Cleaning up potentially contaminated lands and bringing them back into constructive public use is one of the benefits of greening. However, greening efforts may have unintended consequences, resulting in adverse social and economic impacts to the existing residents, who are often the most vulnerable urban populations. Spatial analyses of case study examples show that greening can spur “green gentrification.” Measures can be taken to integrate social equity objectives into urban sustainability planning, to mitigate gentrification, and to improve equitable distribution of …

High Functional Diversity Of Contaminated Soils From Liberty State Park, Nina M. Goodey

Sustainability Seminar Series

Urban brownfields present an opportunity to study the functioning of degraded ecosystems. We investigated the soils of Liberty State Park in Jersey City, New Jersey, which once supported a major rail yard and port facility with docks for shipping cargo to New York City. ICP-MS and pyrolysis-GC-MS studies were used to show that our study site is contaminated with heavy metals and organic contaminants, including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. We used fluorescence spectroscopy to measure soil enzymatic function at multiple locations within the brownfield and found the following types of sites: 1.) hotspots with high heavy metal concentrations and high extracellular …

Dam Removal In New Jersey: Ecological Uplift, Public Safety, And Building Ecosystem Resilience In Advance Of Climate Change, Beth Styler Barry

Sustainability Seminar Series

Dam removals are often the subject of controversy. We’ll explore dam removals from planning to (de)construction and see examples of ecosystem changes that follow. New Jersey has over 1700 dams, the average age of these dams is over 50 years. Many dams have a public use, they may provide a potable water supply or create economically important recreational lakes. However, many dams have outlived their intended use, have fallen into serious disrepair and negatively impact ecosystems.

A Look Under The Hood: Energy & Sustainability Initiatives At New Jersey Transit, John Geitner

Sustainability Seminar Series

New Jersey Transit (NJT) is the nation's largest statewide public transportation provider. To move its nearly one million daily customers, NJT operates Rail, Bus and Light Rail systems. Finding ways to use that energy efficiently and with an eye on sustainability is the focus of the Environment, Energy & Sustainability team at NJT. Join us for a detailed discussion on NJT's operations and how the agency works to incorporate various technologies and programs into those operations with the goal of using energy wisely. This presentation will discuss current capital projects and how they work to incorporate resiliency, reliability and sustainability …

Is Green Infrastructure A Universal Good? Equity In Gi Planning From Us Cities, Zbigniew J. Grabowski

Sustainability Seminar Series

Is Green Infrastructure a Universal Good? Our team seeks to address this research question through a multi-faceted analysis of GI programs through mapping, interviews with practitioners and communities, and an extensive plan analysis across 20 US cities. Our plan plan analysis draws upon a wide array of planning documents pertaining to green infrastructure, and broadly examines the drivers of GI programs and how they consider the relationship between GI and community well being. In particular we are examining if plans take into account the perspectives, concerns, and desires of underserved communities in their framing of GI-equity concerns, and what targets …

Ferrate: A Novel Water Treatment Input, Joseph Goodwill

Sustainability Seminar Series

Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are effective at transforming recalcitrant organic water pollutants. However, most AOPs require relatively complex and capital intensive auxiliary systems to generate radicals. Ferrate (Fe(VI)) is a strong oxidant that affords an operational simplicity that some utilities require. This presentation will provide an overview of Fe(VI) technology, and recent results of an ongoing study focused on Fe(VI) and water reuse.

Dealing With Hurricanes: Coastal Community Adaptation To Socioeconomic And Environmental Pressures In Yaguajay, Central Cuba, Victoria Ramenzoni

Sustainability Seminar Series

Hurricanes can cause extensive long-term damage to small-scale fisheries. Yet, information is scarce on how these communities are impacted by extreme events in the Caribbean as in other parts of the world. Focusing on an artisanal fishery in Yaguajay, Sancti Spiritus, Cuba, this presentation discusses how local fishermen have perceived and responded to the different damages brought about by Hurricane Irma in September 2017 and inundations associated with Storm Alberto in May 2018. Combining discussions and short interviews carried out pre and post-hurricane, this study identifies major environmental impacts and matching responses. In addition, the article sheds light on the …

Viability And Ecology Based Tools For Studying Antibiotic Resistance, Nicole Fahrenfeld

Sustainability Seminar Series

Over 2 million people are sickened and at least 23,000 people die in the U.S. of antibiotic resistant infections each year. Community acquired infections in humans have been linked with environmental sources of antibiotic resistance. Mitigating the risk of environmental AR infections requires understanding hot spots for AR as well as the potential for horizontal gene transfer. A series of case studies will be presented towards understanding hot spots of antibiotic resistance genes in viable cells.

From Controversy To Conservation: How The Environmental Movement Shaped The Creation Of Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, Rainey Mckenna

Sustainability Seminar Series

Over the last 145 years, presidents and congress have established over 400 National Park Service sites to preserve and tell the story of our country. Collectively, these places preserve our ecological and cultural heritage and reflect our national values. Writer and historian Wallace Stegner called our national parks "the best idea we ever had. Absolutely American, absolutely democratic, they reflect us at our best rather than our worst." Yet many of our national parks are forged in controversy. In this presentation, Rainey McKenna will examine how public protest and the emerging environmental movement shaped the creation of Delaware Water Gap …

Strategic Analysis Of New Jersey's Lsrp Program By Applying A Combined Swot-Ahp Technique, Robert Oleksy

Sigma Xi Student Research Symposium

In 2009 the Site Remediation Reform Act (SRRA) was established which created the Licensed Site Remediation Professions (LSRP) program. LSRPs can provide remediation services without delayed approval from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP). The result allows for prompt development of contaminated sites. Ten years after its passage, SRRA 2.0 will soon be introduced. To assist in its strategic development, a modified Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats - Analytical Hierarch Process (SWOT-AHP) will be applied to four stockholder groups to determine each groups' preferences of the current LSRP program. The four groups include government/legal entities, business/trade organizations, non-government …

Road Deicing Salts On Groundwater In The Upper Passaic River Basin, New Jersey, Connor Firor, Peter Soriano, Faith Justice, Felix Oteng, Duke Ophori

Sigma Xi Student Research Symposium

It is known that the use of road deicers is beneficial, but road salts have also been shown to affect surface water and groundwater quality. This study conducted major ion concentration analyses on groundwater samples collected by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) for the Upper Passaic River Basin (UPRB). Results show that the contribution of chloride to total dissolved solids increased significantly by 2010. Trend plots show strong correlation of increases in sodium and chloride with time that are not observed with other major ions such as calcium and magnesium. Decadal bivariate plots of sodium versus chloride show strong …

The Ellis Island Effect: Invasive Species In The Mid-Atlantic, Paul A.X. Bologna

Sustainability Seminar Series

Global invasions of marine species often follow human migration pathways and primary commerce routes. Exploration, immigration, and commerce to the United States has created hot spots for invasive species to become established. In particular, Ellis Island served as a primary spot for European immigrants over the last century. During the last 3 years, we have documented for the first time four non-native hydrozoans in New Jersey using molecular techniques.

Gonionemusvertens, Moerisiainkermanica, and Bougainvilliatriestinahave origins potentially linked to the Mediterranean indicating a potential group invasion from that region. Aequoreaaustralisis a Pacific hydrozoan whose origin pathway is yet unknown, but has now …

Local Structural Determination In Strained-Layer Semiconductors, Joseph Woicik

Sustainability Seminar Series

The theory of elasticity accurately describes the deformations of macroscopic bodies under the action of applied stress. In this lecture I will examine the internal mechanisms of elasticity for strained-layer semiconductor heterostructures. In particular, I will present extended x-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements to show how bond lengths and bond angles change with strain and compare with various theoretical models. These synchrotron-based experimental techniques and their application to thin films will be developed in detail.

Tree Physiology Before, During And After Gypsy Moth Attack And Subsequent Drought In An Upland Forest In The New Jersey Pine Barrens, Karina Schäfer

Sustainability Seminar Series

An investigation over the >ten-year period, canopy water use had declined due to mortality and has as of yet, not rebound to pre-defoliation levels. However, water use has not proportionally dropped to mortality, due to compensation of surviving trees, mostly white oak species and pines, whereby red oak species declined. Thus, mortality and changes in canopy structure increased availability of water and light, and the surviving population first decreased then increased their water use efficiency after an initial decline hinting at increased competition again. Forest functioning and species composition will likely be altered by re-occurring droughts, insect infestations and windthrow, …

Living In The World Of Manmade Chemicals: Lessons Learned From The Migrations And Collapses Of Civilizations, Satish Myneni

Sustainability Seminar Series

Many of the world’s natural surface and groundwater resources are getting contaminated with an increasing number of manmade chemicals, which include farm and household insecticides, industrial pollutants, and pharmaceuticals. As the sizes of potable water bodies are decreasing steeply, it is warranted that we find economic ways to preserve, and purify the available water resources. In this presentation, a discussion on two of the naturally occurring and most widespread contaminants in the world and their human exposure, how one of these contaminants contributed possibly to a collapse of a thriving ancient civilization and the lessons one can learn from these, …

The Boring Millions? Vegetation, Atmospheric Co2 , And Climate Revolutions Of The Late Miocene, Pratigya Polissar

Sustainability Seminar Series

During the late Miocene (11-5 Ma), global ice volume and deep ocean temperatures appear to be relatively unchanging. These “boring millions” suggest stasis of the climate system with the expectation of only moderate global changes in climate, CO2 and vegetation. However, during this time tropical ecosystems underwent profound changes and surface ocean temperatures declined dramatically. When did these changes occur, what drove them, and what role if any did atmospheric carbon dioxide levels play? I will address these questions through new observations of the onset, pace and geographic extent of vegetation transformations and hydrologic changes reconstructed from molecular biomarkers. I …

How Climate Change Is Driving Corporate Social Responsibility And Business Innovation, Faith Taylor

Sustainability Seminar Series

Climate Change continues to create ongoing challenges to companies, our communities and planet. Key stakeholders from employees to Investors request that we are all held accountable. Learn how companies have responded and the innovation that is driving change and hope for a better world. Be humbled, educated and inspired to make a difference.

State Environmental Public Policies And The Interaction With Wholesale Electric Markets, Cynthia L. M. Holland

Sustainability Seminar Series

Several States, including New Jersey, pursued utility restructuring in the late 1990s, transitioning to competitive markets. Recognizing that those markets may not achieve the states’ environmental policy goals, many of these states have enacted legislation that offer incentives to clean or renewable energy sources. This seminar will discuss the jurisdictional tensions that have developed as a result of the integration of state environmental policies into the wholesale market.

Global Sustainability That Respects Cultural Diversity & Individual Health Needs, Meriterese Racanelli

Sustainability Seminar Series

The USA Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health have classified excessive sodium consumption, high blood pressure and diabetes as national health epidemics across various ethnic cultures. The United Nations and other countries classify these as Global Epidemics. Interestingly,some ways to help fix this national and global health crisis can be found in the balance of sustainable environmentally-friendly agriculture, green technologies, and cultural competencies. Learn how sustainability studies, research, and jobs can still respect an individual’s ethnic heritage, culture, and nutritional health needs, while improving the community health at large... from local to global. Sustainability can help us …

Plastics, Degradability, And The Environment, Peter Strom

Sustainability Seminar Series

Harmful environmental effects of plastics have long been condemned by activists, and some of these problems are well documented. However, in seeking to substitute other materials or make changes in the properties of the plastics themselves, it is important that the policies implemented do not worsen existing or create new environmental problems. This seminar will discuss some of the general concerns associated with this issue, such as the environmental impacts of using other materials instead of plastics, and then focus on degradable plastics. What is degradability, when might it be valuable, and will these products in fact degrade? Results of …